Spirit of the Night
by Prauge
Summary: Naruto meets a rogue in the forest, and gets blamed for attacks on missions by the Sound. eventual Narusaku
1. Meeting in the Forest

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto in any way, I just control their every little move in this fic.**

Spirit of the Night

"Wow, I got done with my mission 2 weeks ahead of schedule, Sakura will be impressed." Naruto said to himself as he leapt through the trees that make up Konoha Forest. "Maybe she'll go out and get ramen with me!" (A/N: this is before Shippuden, but after Sasuke left). As he was jumping through the forest at breakneck speed, he saw a flash of silver and black, he turned his head to look, and saw a boy, his age, sitting at the top of a tree, leaning back, stargazing. That was all he saw for the next moment his head smashed into a branch, stunning him. The boy in the tree obviously heard the crash, and looking down saw the ninja plummeting headfirst to the ground, breaking every branch in his way. Sighing, he rose to his feet before dashing to the ground, catching Naruto before he smashed his head to smithereens.

"Idiot" was the last thing Naruto heard before he blacked out.

/////////////////////////

Naruto woke up to birdsong and sunlight. Blinking his eyes, he took in his surroundings. He seemed to be in a wooden room about the size of his bedroom, he saw the sunlight pouring in from a round hole in the wall at about head height. He looked down and saw himself in a bed, or in _the _bed, the only one in the room. It was also made of wood, along with all he furniture on the room. There was a table and a chair, both seemed to be growing out of the floor, as did the bed. Slightly perturbed by this oddity, he didn't notice that the boy who had rescued him had appeared in the window, the only way out of the room.

"How long have you been awake?" said boy asked.

"Holy crap! When did you get here?" Naruto yelled, completely surprised.

"Just now, when you were gaping at the house. Are you feeling ok?" Naruto was wary, because even if this kid said he meant well, Naruto knew he was hiding something, he could feel a chakra presence, and knew immediately this kid was a ninja, either enemy or rogue.

"Are you ok?" the kid asked again, coming to stand over Naruto, "you shouldn't be moving, you hurt yourself pretty bad." Naruto got his first good look at his rescuer. He was tall, taller than him, and lean. He wore a black sweatshirt, with a hood, partially unzipped, with a white shirt underneath. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbow. His shorts were also black with a dark grey stripe down the side and encircling the knee. His shins were covered with light gray tape. He had no shoes, and made no sound when he walked. He had silver hair tied up into a ponytail (A/N: kinda like Orochimaru had when he was playing jounin instructor to the sound kids in the chunnin exams) that came down to his shoulders. He also saw his hood had a hole for the ponytail to fit through. His eyes were yellow, but not like Orochimaru's, they looked friendlier and less like a snake, the pupils weren't slitted. Even in bright light, Naruto could tell they were glowing. He saw no village marking and figured out (somehow) that the kid was a rogue ninja.

"I'm fine, but you're not going to be." Naruto grunted as he twisted, throwing a punch at the other boy's face. The boy saw it coming, yet didn't move. Suddenly Naruto heard something snap, and his chest felt like it was fire. He dropped to the floor, for the first time seeing the bandages that covered his entire upper body.

"Naruto, I told you not to move."

/////////////

**Not bad eh? I know its short, but others will be longer, I promise you. This fic will be longer than my other one, for those of you who liked Winds and Tails. Please, R and R. **

**-Prauge**


	2. Tsunade's Decision

**Disclaimer: I don't, never have, never will, don't really want to, looks like to much work, own Naruto, this will be the only time I will say this. **

_**Spirit of the Night**_

"_I'm fine, but you're not going to be." Naruto grunted as he twisted, throwing a punch at the other boy's face. The boy saw it coming, yet didn't move. Suddenly Naruto heard something snap, and his chest felt like it was fire. He dropped to the floor, for the first time seeing the bandages that covered his entire upper body. _

"_Naruto, I told you not to move."_

Naruto woke up again, this time, at night. He started to move, but being careful because he was aware that if he moved in a certain way, he would probably black out again. He got up, and started to fall before caught by a strong hand.

"Even after what happened last time, you have to move around, don't you?"

"What happened to me to get me all banged up?"

"You crashed headfirst into a branch, giving yourself a minor concussion, and fell through more branches breaking your ribs and spraining your wrist. You would have died if you hit the ground, Naruto." Naruto's eyes widened to about the size of dish plates. Then he noticed something.

"How do you know my name?"

"We are cousins, in a way."

"How?"

"That information I will keep to myself."

"Well then, if you know m name, then what is your name?"

"You may call me Ar'Keno." Naruto waited a moment before asking, "How long will it take for me to heal?"

"About a week, give or take a few days. You won't be late getting back from your mission."

"How the heck did you know about that?!!"

"You were rambling on about as you crashed through the forest."

"Oh" an awkward silence followed.

"Is there anything you need?" Ar'Keno asked. His question was answered by a loud grumble, issuing from Naruto's stomach. "Ah, food. I'll be back in a few minutes." Ar'Keno jumped out the window. True to his word, 189 seconds later, he returned with a basketful of fruit and bread.

"Sorry, no ramen, there isn't a ramen stand in the middle of a forest."

"Aw." Naruto sighed; just taking for granted that Ar'Keno's enhanced hearing heard him talking to himself.

_9 days later_

"Okay, you're healthy enough to get back to Konoha."

"Thanks for everything Ar'Keno, if there is anything I can do for you, just ask dattebayo."

"If it's ok, can you not tell the Konoha authorities about me? I've never done anything against them, but they would still come after me cuz they would think I was a threat."

"Sure, but if they ask me about you exactly, I wont lie."

"They don't know about me, they won't ask about me directly, so thanks. Be careful when you're going home. Konoha village is about a mile southwest of here. If you need any help, whistle, like this." Ar'Keno let out an earsplitting whistle. "Do that, but three times if I need to hide. I'll be able to hear you even if you are in Konoha."

"Thanks" With that, Naruto leapt out the window, heading home. True to his word, he didn't report intelligence of a rogue ninja living in Konoha forest. Over the next few months, he came to visit Ar'Keno a few times during spare time. He made sure he wasn't followed when visiting. A few times, Naruto even brought some ramen with him so Ar'Keno could taste the famous Ichiraku ramen. Whenever he was feeling upset, he would go, just to vent. Ar'Keno would just sit there, taking it all in, whether Naruto was complaining about Sasuke leaving, or about Tsunade's missions. Naruto knew he could trust him, because, who would he tell? He always left feeling better. He knew he should be more careful visiting, but sometimes he didn't care. Eventually, someone noticed and he was called into Tsunade's office for questioning.

"What is it hag?" Naruto retorted.

"Naruto, I have reports that you have been leaving the village in the same direction rather often lately. Why are you going there? Have you met someone? Are you telling him information?" Naruto swore inside his head, cursing himself for not taking care to not be noticed.

"Why do you care what I'm doing?"

"Because we have a security leak. Someone has been sending information to the Sound village. They have had teams ambushing different squads on at least five different missions. Now tell me, have you spoken to anyone?"

"I haven't told anyone on any of those missions!" This was technically true. He had only told Ar'Keno about missions he had finished, not ones that were yet to be completed. This was the first he had heard of any ambushed missions.

"Very well, you may go." Naruto turned on his heel. Tsunade sighed, saying, "I'm sorry about this Naruto. You may come out." Out of the wall walked an ANBU in a bear mask.

"Hai, Hokage-sama."

"You and your squad must tail Naruto. Take the utmost care to not get noticed. _Especially_ when he leaves the village. He takes off in a northeast course. Follow him there and report back to me."

"Hai, Hokage-sama." The ANBU melted back into the wall.

//////////////////

Naruto as jumping across roofs as fast as he could, thinking of what to do.

"The hag will probably have put tails on me, so I can't go there." Naruto thought to himself, "Unless I warn him first, what was the signal for that? Oh yeah, three whistles. I'll go near there, then whistle, and then get closer. Yeah, that's what I'll do." He raced off into the forest, taking a twisting turning route, and when he was about halfway there, let out three screeching whistles, and then continued. When he got to the hideout, and climbed in, he felt a sharp pain at the back of his head, and then fainted. The ANBU behind him made motions with his hands. Her subordinates fanned out, their eyes noting every detail, from the grown chairs to the slightly messy bed. They only missed one aspect, a pair of yellow glowing eyes in the ceiling. The lead ANBU made more motions, obviously sign language and they jumped out of the room, and left, taking Naruto's limp form with them. As they left, a panel in the ceiling, completely concealed, opened. Ar'Keno leaped out, pondering on what to do. From what he understood of the sign language, and his own assumptions, they would be back with reinforcements.

"Naruto didn't rat me out, at least on purpose, so what do I do?"

////////////////////

Back at the Hokage mansion, the ANBU captain made his report.

"Naruto knew the way, but seemed like he was trying to make sure no one knew exactly where they were. When he approached the hideout, he gave three whistles. We only assume that that meant he was alone, and everything was clear. He entered the hideout, then we knocked him out. We searched the area, but found no one. The hideout had signs of someone being there recently." Tsunade sighed

"You are dismissed."

"Hai." The ANBU disappeared. Tsunade looked out the window; it was sunset, one of those perfect ones you only saw on TV shows. Couples all over Konoha would be in awe of the scene, but Tsunade's eyes only saw possible destruction by Sound, again.

"Naruto, why did you lie to me and put me in this position?"

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**Told you it would be longer. I've been thinking of this plot for a while, finally got the time to write it. Well, thanks for reading, Happy Thanksgiving/Merry Christmas/Happy New Year/ whatever holiday it is closest to now**

**-Prauge**


	3. Ar'Keno's Past

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, never did, never will, and don't particularly want to, too much work**

**Spirit of the Night**

It was noon when Ar'Keno woke up. He knew immediately that something was wrong. He didn't know what, but that he heard something, because only something out of the ordinary would force him from his sleep. He cast his odd eyes around. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, he laid back down, feigning sleep, but with his ears pricked. It was about ten minutes before he heard what had woken him up. A small rustling in the bushes, undoubtedly Konoha ANBU. Concentrating, he heard the heartbeats of eight humans, at different strategic points around his tree. He knew they were here for him, he could only assume they wanted him alive, for reasons he couldn't understand. He stood up, and then jumped up to the lip of the window that served as the exit.

"You can come out," he called, "I can hear you, all eight of you." There was no answer. He heard a soft voice, speaking into a microphone, and identified this voice as the leader from the other day. "Fine, if you won't come out, I'll come to you." With that, he jumped over into the apposing tree, right in front of the ANBU with the bear mask.

"Hi, can I help you?" The ANBU stood dumbfounded for about ten seconds, then jumped out into the open. A voice issued from underneath the metal, "You are under arrest by the Konoha police force. You are to come with us back to the village for questioning"

"What crime have I committed for two squads to come get me?"

"You have been leaking mission information to the Sound village."

"Your information is incorrect, I have never done anything to cause any Konoha ninja harm. Perhaps the leak is coming from somewhere else, go check, I will not move away from this tree."

"Our orders are to bring you back to Konoha, whether willingly, or by force." Ar'Keno laughed, "Ha, as if you could force me to do anything." All the ANBU jumped in toward Ar'Keno, jutsu's ready. His face became serious, and pulled up a hood, concealing his face. All that showed of his face were his eyes. "Bring it.". All the ANBU attacked at once, with taijutsu, but none came close to touching him. All their attempts to beat him missed, or were blocked. They only beat him down by chucking poison senbon, one with bells, one without. The one without the bells hit him, and he was down. The three standing ANBU started dragging him back, being none to gentle.

//////////////

Naruto woke up in a cold dark prison cell with a raging headache. He tried to remember what happened. All he remembered was Tsunade questioning him, and then he ran off. Every time he tried to remember anything else, his headache just got worse. Looking around his cell, he took note of every detail. There were two bunk beds, both of which looked like the rust springs would give him tetanus if he slept in them. His cell was about six yards square with a small desk opposite the beds. The wall adjacent to the beds was plain gray, with a sink and a mirror. The only other wall was the cell door. All in all, a pretty normal cell. As to why he was in a cell, he had no idea. He would have yelled to someone, but no one else was there. Suddenly, there was a racket in the hallway outside his cell. He saw a Konoha ninja dragging a bloody mess down the hall. The ninja stopped at his door, and threw said bloody mess into his cell. He walked in, held both Naruto and the bloody mess down, clipped collars onto both of their necks, and locked them. Then he left. Naruto looked at the bloody mess, and recognized it as Ar'Keno.

"Ah, Ar'Keno, what are you doing here, and why are you all bloody?!! Why am I here? Where is here? What is this collar thing? What are we going to do?" Ar'Keno looked up at him and just sighed. He made his way over to the sink, then washed off a nasty cut on his arm, and sat down in the middle of the floor.

"You gave me up." Naruto stared at him.

"I did no-"

"If you didn't then why are we here?!!" Ar'Keno shouted at him. Naruto sat down in stunned silence. "You probably didn't know. They used a reverse hypnosis jutsu on you, you had to tell them. It's not your fault. Why did they want me in the first place? They said something about leaking information."

"Apparently, someone has been selling mission information to the Sound village. On a couple missions, our squads got ambushed by Sound teams. Because I got noticed visiting you a lot, they suspected you, and we ended up here. If they used a reverse hypnosis jutsu on me, would they just let us go? They know I didn't give up information."

"Because they cant do long periods of that jutsu at once. It tires them out, and it weakens your mind. Because you had been seeing me for a while, it would take them a while to look through it all."

"Why don't they use it on you?"

"They can't. Whenever they try, their jutsu hits a wall and shatters, so they try to get information out of me with more physical means."

"What do you mean when you say a wall?

"A force or a barrier around my mind. It stops anyone from getting into my mind, even if I would let them. Unfortunately, this means that they think I'm trying to hide stuff from them, so they redouble their efforts with other means."

"What put the barrier in place?"

"That is a long story."

"We aren't exactly going anywhere." Naruto said, gesturing around the room.

"Not now, I'm tired, and they should take you in soon. After you come back, I'll start."

"Ok"

Ar'Keno was right. In about five minutes, a ninja came back, gestured to Naruto, who walked obediently toward him. He snapped off the collar, grabbed Naruto by the scruff of the neck, and hauled him off to a hypnosis session. When he came back, he got the collar again, and found that Ar'Keno had fallen asleep, leaning up against the wall. He took that unspoken advice, and curled up underneath the bed. Soon he fell asleep. In his dreams, he walked around the halls of his spirit, where the Kyuubi lives. As he walked up to the cage, he noticed that Kyuubi wasn't all grr and suchlike. He seemed really tuckered out.

"Kyuubi, why are you so tired?"

"It's that collar. It stops any chakra flow in your body, either yours or anyone else. What got you in jail? I thought you were a model citizen." He said with a sneer on his face or at least the closest you could get to a sneer on a fox face.

"I'm suspected for leaking information to a rogue ninja."

"Did you?"

"NO!!! I wouldn't do that!! I never told him anything about those missions!!"

"Ah I see. Wait, when did you meet a rogue ninja?"

"On a mission about a month ago. I was hurt and he helped me. I kept visiting and they found out."

"Who is he?"

"His name is Ar'Keno, but"-

"Ar'Keno, this isn't a rogue ninja, this is way more!! You don't know what you have gotten yourself into Kit!!"

"Who is he?"

"I'm not telling, I can't. He will tell you when he is ready. Now go away, you're annoying." Naruto left, and woke up; hitting his head on the bed he fell asleep under. The loud clang rang through the prison, waking Ar'Keno with a start.

"Owww." Naruto clutched his head, he could just hear Kyuubi laughing at him. Ar'Keno blinked owlishly at him. "What, it was warm under there and I just forgot how low it was." Ar'Keno just smiled and shook his head.

"What time is it?" Ar'Keno asked.

"Not a clue."

"So, how is the Kyuubi?" Naruto just stared in shock

"H-How do you know about the Kyuubi?"

"Remember when I said we were cousins?" Naruto nodded. "well we are related through the Kyuubi."

**Oh, what's gonna happen? Next Chapter, Ar'Keno's Past. Tune in next week at six thirty to find out what happened to our little rogue that made him him. Please review. Thanks to xxnoir-haired-tenshixx for adding this story to her story alert**

**-Prauge**


	4. Story of the Demon

**Spirit of the Night**

_"We are related through the Kyuubi"_

"How?"

"I was going to explain that." Ar'Keno paused, "there are nine tailed demons, but those aren't the only demons. There are others, one for each element, and others. The tails are the most destructive, and aggressive, but they are the most famous. Most people don't know about the other demons. When I was young, the spirit of the night was placed into my body. His mind melded with mine, giving me some of his physical attributes. So I am not completely human, but part owl. Also, I am not who I was before I became a host. My mind is partially that of the demon."

"Oh. What are some of the attributes it gave you?"

"These eyes, along with night vision, silent movement, enhanced hearing, and a summoning jutsu. He made me nocturnal, gave me quite a few neat jutsu's, put that mind block in place and when I get hurt, his original mind can take complete control of my body."

"How did you become a rogue ninja? Why are you living out in the forest?" Naruto asked, wanting to know more about Ar'Keno, it seemed he would always be a mystery.

Ar'Keno leaned back against the wall, staring at the ceiling. He drew in a breath.

"Originally I am from the Kumogakure, from a prestigious clan known for their high expectations and strict rules. My parents were high ranking in the clan, and I had shown great potential even by age three. Obviously, the clan had high hopes for me. When I was four, I wandered out of the village, bored and I heard a large noise. Being a curios toddler, I went off to investigate. There, I saw a huge owl, completely midnight black, grievously injured but still alive. That was the demon, the embodiment of the night. It looked at me, glowing orange eyes transfixed me, I heard a voice in my mind. It told me what it was going to do, and why it needed to. I agreed with it, and my soul melded with it, literally transforming me. I got these eyes, my hair changed, I could hear everything, from an ant's heartbeat to my parents bickering five miles away. I thought differently, I wasn't a naïve kid anymore. When I got home, my family was shocked, and they figured out what had happened to me, and they attacked me. I was hurt, and my demon came out and slaughtered them all, even my parents. I had to run, the village jounin were sent after me. I kept running, I flew all the way here in a week, running as fast as I could, almost nonstop. When I got here, I found a tree and asked it for a place to stay. I don't know how I did, or how I knew to ask a tree, but I did. It grew a hole, along with my room. I stayed there, and learned how to survive. I occasionally leave, just for the change. I've been all over, to almost every single hidden village. Then I met you, and I had a reason to stay home. I liked your visits, I get so bored with just my summons to talk to. Then someone found me, and I ended here."

A silence followed as Naruto digested all the information. "They should be coming to take me soon, I think it's about eight in the morning. Stay here, and if you can, try to fiddle with the collar. They take it off in the interrogation sessions, but then, you are being hurt too much to do anything."

"I'll try." True enough, two ANBU came, but instead of them just grabbing Ar'Keno, they one reached for Naruto as well. Naruto sent a glance at Ar'Keno as if to say 'what's this?' but Ar'Keno had as much of a clue as to what was going on as Naruto. They felt a stout rope being tied around their wrists behind their back, and the collars being snapped off. They soon found out as they were led into a large circular room, with a chair in the middle. They plopped Naruto into the chair, strapped him down, and flipped a switch. Nothing happened for a few seconds, but then Naruto's world was full of pain. It felt as if every molecule in his body was being incinerated. Soon, the electrical shock subsided, and he panted, unaware he had let out a scream. Ar'Keno was being held by two ANBU, watching with wide eyes, completely surprised by what had happened.

"What is this, why are you hurting him?" Ar'Keno demanded. The captain, the girl who was in control of the switch, looked at him, and said, "We noticed that you felt bad whenever he was hurt, so, we are using that against you. When you let us into your mind, or tell us the truth, we will stop." With that, she turned a dial, and flipped the switch again. Naruto let out a scream that threatened to burst the eardrums of everyone in the room. Ar'Keno thrashed against his bonds, but they couldn't break.

"Stop it, he hasn't done anything!" Naruto noticed he had tears in his eyes "why does he care about me this much?" he thought.

"Then will you let us into your mind?"

"I already told you, I can't!"

"Then I will not stop." Once again, she flipped the switch. As she turned it off, something in Ar'Keno snapped. Naruto felt it, demonic chakra invaded the room. Apparently, so did the ANBU, because they started backing away. As Ar'Keno looked up, his eyes literally burned with anger, the comforting yellow gone, replaced with an orange, full of hate. The ANBU attacked him, but even with his hands tied, they didn't stand a chance. The first ANBU reached out with a tranquilizing jutsu in the palm of his hand. Ar'Keno heard it, jumped spinning, bringing his left foot down on the top of the ANBU's hand, his right foot scything up at the elbow. Ar'Keno followed it up with a kick to the back of the head. The captain stood forward, needles extending from her index and middle finger of her right hand. As her hand shot forward, Ar'Keno swerved to the side, and sank his teeth into her hand, drawing blood, even through the glove. He snapped his head around, letting go and the ANBU smashed against the wall. Ar'Keno brought his arms up from behind his back, over his head and in front of his body. He then started biting through the rope. After he was free, he pocketed one of the collars used on him, freed Naruto, and started running. He ran as fast as he could, and soon got out. As soon as he saw the morning sky, he made a series of hand seals, placed his hand on the ground, and a cloud of smoke poofed up. Standing there was a jet black owl the size of a horse, with amber eyes, and blades attached to his tail and wing feathers. Ar'Keno grabbed Naruto, still stunned, and jumped on the owl that flew off.

/////////////////

Naruto woke up on the ground. He had lots of cuts and bruises, and he thought his wrist was broken. As he painfully got to his feet, he saw that he was pretty close to a training ground, close enough to hear someone practicing. As he started toward the sound, he saw Sakura, thwacking away at a wooden post. As he drew nearer, Sakura noticed him, (huh, he is in bright orange, should see him right away) started to run to him, then stopped short. She stared at him with suspicious eyes, thinking that because he was in jail, and had escaped, he was evil 0OOooOO000oo.

"Sakura, I know what you are thinking and it isn't true. I wasn't leaking information to anyone that would have led to those Sound attacks, I really didn't, now please help me." The girl flicked her eyes around, then walked toward Naruto, already channeling chakra into her hands. As the green glow around Sakura's hands reached Naruto, he winced, feeling bones shifting back into their position, and cuts speeding up their healing process. Sakura didn't say a word to Naruto, or even look at his eyes, she just paid attention to his injuries. As she finished, Naruto started to explain.

"Sakura, I-" Sakura cut him off.

"Naruto, what were you thinking?!! Fraternizing with a rogue ninja, just after the attack, how could you do that?" she exploded. "then you go to jail, and leave me worried sick, and then you break out with that crazy rogue, hospitalizing two ANBU, plus tons of other prison guards! You don't even know where he is from, or if he has bad intentions! He could be planning to attack Konoha, or be in league with Akatsuki, going after that demon inside of you." As Sakura paused for a breath, Naruto's hand snaked out and stopped the rest of the rant. Naruto looked down, sighing.

"You're right. I shouldn't have talked with him after the first time, it was really stupid. He just isn't the type of person who would give personal information away like that. He couldn't be an enemy, he just couldn't! He would never go after the Kyuubi, he knows what I went through, he knows how I felt!" Naruto ended shouting. Sakura was dumbfounded. She looked down at the ground, thinking of what to say.

"I'm sorry, but I was worried for you, ever since Sasuke left, you are all I have. I just wanted you to be safe." An awkward silence followed as Sakura finished healing Naruto. She took a breath and asked, "What are you going to do? Are you going back to the village? Tsunade has been looking for you, and has a capture or kill order out on that rogue." Sakura looked at him expectantly. Naruto sighed.

"I'm going to find Ar'Keno, then find the leak, and take out those Sound ninja, and need you to help me."

**Hey, sorry for the long wait, school has been piling it on. Have had almost no time to write. Thanks for reading, plz review. **

**-Prauge**


	5. The Plan

Sakura stared at him, completely flabbergasted.

"What?!! You expect me to help a rogue, who has killed Konoha ninja, and escaped from jail? No way!"

"Please Sakura, I can't do it without you, no one will trust me enough to let me close enough to snoop, and no one will trust Ar'Keno at all. I can't help those people who were hurt by the Sound without you." Naruto pleaded Sakura, using his ultimate jutsu, Puppy dog eyes. Sakura glared at him in return, but felt her resolve begin to weaken.

"Fine, but I'm not doing this for you, but for the people who got hurt, and the people who can still get hurt." Naruto beamed, happy that he convinced Sakura to his plan. Now there was only one problem.

"How are you going to find the rogue?" Sakura looked at Naruto, as they walked out of the training grounds. Naruto tripped, thwacking his head solidly on the ground. Rolling over, rubbing his head, he looked up at the sky, a hopeless look on his face.

"I hadn't even thought of that," he whined, "Ar'Keno hid in our forest for years, it'll be almost impossible to find him."

"Then you had better tell me everything you know about him, so we can figure out what he would do." Sakura said, as she sat down next to him. Naruto sat up, and looked at his feet, wondering what he should tell her, if he should tell her everything.

"There are some facts that I will leave out, just because I think he should tell you that himself." Sakura started to argue, but was silenced. "Trust me on this, he wouldn't want me handing this information out lightly." She nodded, then listened to the story. Naruto related Ar'Keno's past, barring the bit about the demon. He told how Ar'Keno was kicked out of the village because of a crime he was blamed for. The words fell from his mouth as he remembered how he was told; trying to impress upon Sakura his understanding of the loneliness they had felt. He told of his reactions to the torture in jail, how he cared for the person close to him. When the story was finished, Sakura was looking at Naruto with wide eyes, amazed at this past, as tortured as Gaara's. She lay back, deep in thought, as she voiced her opinion.

"He seems flighty, and cautious, but not one to make moves without thinking. He would probably flee into the forest, far enough away to be free of our scrutiny, but close enough to monitor our movements in case we did something unexpected. He wouldn't go back to his old home, because he knows people are watching it. Did he ever make another home in the forest? One that he doesn't use anymore?" Naruto shook his head, Ar'Keno had always been in that tree. Sakura mused again, "Hmm, maybe he found an abandoned post out in the forest, there aren't too many of those left, and we don't check on them often." Naruto's eyes widened, it was perfect, just what he expected from Sakura-chan.

"Sakura-chan, do you know where any of those old hideouts are?"

"Of course, as Tsunade's apprentice, I hear almost every mission assignment she gives, she gives coordinates for every place."

"How many are there?"

"A lot, too many to go searching through all of them." Naruto's face was downcast. "But we don't have to look through them all, just the ones that aren't checked on that often. That narrows the number to about 20. Also, he wouldn't be to close to the village, which halves the number. We can easily search 10. We'll find the rogue, no doubt about it." Naruto's face lit up, then took a serious cast as he stood up.

"We need to get going, the faster we find him, the sooner we can commence with the plan. Could you lead the way to the posts?" Sakura nodded, standing as well.

"Follow me." The two ninja leapt off, through the forest.

/////////////

They had searched through almost all of their options, and hadn't found Ar'Keno. Both Naruto and Sakura were tired, and not hopeful. Naruto had impressed on Sakura Ar'Keno's abilities, that he was extremely good at hiding.

"One more post, he must be there, he has to be," Naruto said, determination burning in his eyes. Sakura watched him, knowing the chances of finding the rogue nin. She beckoned him, and then ran through the forest towards the last post. This one was hidden high in the boughs of a tree. She was not optimistic about finding him, even though some of the posts they had seen had shown signs of people being there recently. As the last hideout came into view, she saw Naruto sprinting toward it. He stopped outside the door, afraid of what he might see, or what he might not see. She put a comforting hand on his shoulder, and he pushed open the door. Inside, it was completely empty, devoid of any life except for the bugs running around on the floor. Naruto stepped into the room, legs shaking from both the exertion and the disbelief that he couldn't find his friend. He sank down to the floor, hands balled into fists to stop himself from crying out.

"Damn it!" he cried as he pounded the floor, "Ar'Keno, where are you? We need you!!! We need your help!! I need your help! You were always there before, why aren't you here now? Where are you?" Naruto had tears in his eyes, completely disappointed, crushed, and stunned. He had expected to find Ar'Keno, not to walk into empty room after empty room. Sakura stood in the threshold, heart breaking for the boy she saw in front of her, but completely helpless. She had no idea what to do, to go and comfort him, or encourage him, or let him struggle through. Sakura started toward him, to comfort Naruto, but stopped. She turned around, completely on instinct, and saw a kid, her age with shoulder length silver hair in a ponytail and yellow eyes. She took a step back, caught completely off guard, she hadn't heard him sneak up on her.

"Naruto," she called. She got a terse reply, "What?" she swallowed. "Did the rogue have silver hair and yellow eyes?" Naruto blinked in puzzlement, he didn't remember describing Ar'Keno to Sakura. He stood up, calling, "Yea, why?" and he turned around. As he saw Ar'Keno, he stood riveted. He staggered forward as if not believing. Naruto reached out a hand to touch the boy, feeling his forehead to make sure this was real. He pulled his hand back, and punched Ar'Keno across the face.

"Where were you?" Naruto asked through clenched teeth.

"I've been following you, I didn't know whether to trust her." Ar'Keno flinched when Naruto punched him again. Sakura stood watching the two boys, unsure whether to interfere.

"I trust her, shouldn't that be enough!" Naruto shouted. Ar'Keno looked away, ashamed. "I'm sorry, I was just being cautious. I just got caught by Konoha, I didn't want to be taken back to jail for more torture." Naruto sighed, placated. Sakura stepped forward, introducing herself. "Hi, I'm Sakura Haruno, a friend of Naruto's." When she met his eyes, she couldn't move. She was frozen, felt like she falling into the golden orbs. She couldn't look away, couldn't move, felt like her soul was being searched. It seemed an eternity to Sakura until he looked away, she stepped back, breathing hard.

"My name is Ar'Keno. I would say that I was pleased to meet you, but frankly, I don't trust you right now." Naruto glared at him, while Sakura just nodded.

"Understandable, I wouldn't trust someone I just met who might be my enemy." Ar'Keno plodded into the hideout, plopping himself down on the floor because any furniture had long since deteriorated.

"So why are you two looking for me? I can't think of a reason for you to look for me, except turn me in, and I know Naruto wouldn't do that." Sakura glanced at Naruto, then stated, "We want your help to find the leak, and take out the Sound forces." Ar'Keno closed his eyes, and pinched the bridge of his nose. Sakura looked at Naruto, wondering if he was ok. Naruto seemed unconcerned. An intake of breath from the floor drew her attention back to the rogue ninja. Ar'Keno looked up at Naruto and said, "I take it that you do not have a specific strategy to find the leak." The blond ninja stared at the ground sheepishly, saying, "I was hoping that you could help me with that. I don't know how to go about, only that we would need someone on the inside to gather information." Ar'Keno smiled, and nodded. He stood up, stretching, and told them, "Of course I'll help. Those Sound bastards cost me a good hideout and a life devoid of scrutiny. I want to get back at them. As for how, Sakura will be vital. I'll need to know how important you are in the Hokage's office, how well you can gather information discreetly, as well as the details of the missions that were ambushed." Sakura nodded, and suppressed the urge to salute. Ar'Keno continued addressing Naruto, "We'll also need to get your reputation back, so you can have missions, and not be under suspicion. Make up a story about how I was holding you captive or something like that." Naruto started to protest, but Ar'Keno cut him off. "I know you won't want to, but my reputation doesn't matter, and you need to if you want to get at those Sound people." Naruto nodded reluctantly. Ar'Keno smiled, and then started discussing information with Sakura as Naruto started to think of a story that would make him seem innocent. Eventually, Naruto, with Sakura's help, came up with a cover story, and Ar'Keno came up with a plan. He explained it to the other two, and they agreed. Naruto and Sakura ran off toward the village, going over their parts in the plan in their head, before Sakura started carrying Naruto into the Hokage tower.

/////////////

"It was all that rogue's fault, he made me tell him about those missions." Naruto was being held by four ANBU in Tsunade's office. "He captured me, then sent a clone to pretend to be me back to the village, then used that weird reverse hypnosis thing on me." "Why was he so friendly with you in jail? That didn't seem like the attitude of a captor toward his previous hostage." Tsunade questioned him.

"He apologized to me, saying that he was being held over a barrel, and the only way out was to get that information. Because he didn't really hurt me, I forgave him, but that was before I knew what had happened on those missions. If I met him now, I would kill him" Tsunade leaned back in her chair, chewing Naruto's story over, looking for inconsistencies. Because she could find none, she nodded to the ANBU, who then released Naruto. She pursed her lips, considering what to do.

"Uzumaki Naruto, you will be kept on house arrest, with one ANBU guard at all times until further notice. Dismissed." Naruto voiced his thanks, then walked out the door.

"Sakura," Tsunade barked, "you are to stay here, I want you to look over the details of the attacked missions for connections. Even the slightest bit of information could be useful." Sakura nodded, then walked out, thinking to herself, 'Perfect, I get the best excuse possible to study those missions more. I will do all I can to find those Sound ninja's'. Naruto was walking back to his house, smirking to himself. Everything was going according to plan.

**Hey, really whipped this one off, had lots of time on a drive. Went up to Connecticut after my grandfather died today. So, please excuse me if there is a long wait in between updates. Thanks to xzavx for reviewing.**

**-Prauge**


	6. The Begining of the Mission

**Spirit of the Night**

Sakura had memorized and relayed everything about the missions to Ar'Keno, and Naruto had been let off house arrest, but wasn't being assigned any missions. Both had been bouncing every theory off of each other, not wanting to contact Ar'Keno unless they had solid proof. A few times, he had shown up in Naruto's home, and they had discussed all possibilities. They had found one connection between the missions, they each were either delivering a prized item, or had gotten a hold of a rare item that would bring money to a rich man in the Wave Country. They had yet to find who was giving the information away, or why the Sound wanted to bankrupt this noble. Sakura was working on finding the leak, but had found that he was not actually sending missions, or stealing information, but worked on processing the missions, and gave them to the Hokage. Sakura didn't work there much, so couldn't research many of the people there. Ar'Keno had gone in multiple times in a disguise, but hadn't found the leak. It had been two months since the plan had been conceived. They had gotten far, considering they were only able to have one person do the research.

Sakura was getting frustrated, no matter where she looked, she couldn't find the mole. She knew that the mole processed the mission request, and classified the mission, but she didn't know where he was. It annoyed her to no end. Only through Naruto's encouragement had she been able to continue. She felt that if she didn't find this mole soon, she would rip her hair out. When she went home from the hospital that day, she felt like stopping at Naruto's house. When she did, she found Naruto and Ar'Keno engaged in a conversation, then Ar'Keno burst out, "That's must be it!" When Sakura heard this, she almost ran over to them.

"What happened, did you figure out who the mole is?" Naruto beamed at her, obviously extremely pleased with himself.

"Yea, I did," he said, "It's the guy who guards the door when Tsunade is giving out the mission. He hands the documents to her, but not the envelope, because he already read it. He listens at the door when she is talking in case he missed any details. After the mission has been given, he is dismissed, and he runs off, to meet with a Sound guy." Sakura stared at Naruto, amazed he had come up with that by himself. She shook her head, thinking than hanging out with Ar'Keno was making the blond smarter. Getting back to the business at hand, she asked them, "Do you know who he is?" Ar'Keno shook his head, expression unreadable. Sakura sat on a couch, disappointed. Ar'Keno cleared his throat, then clarified.

"We don't know exactly who it is, but we do know that he isn't a Sound ninja." Sakura looked up puzzled. Ar'Keno continued, "He is selling the information to Orochimaru. Basically a ninja that left his village, looking for a means to live." Sakura nodded in understanding

"What's the next step of plan?" Naruto asked.

"We need to get you two a mission, the same time a mission for that rich man is taking place. One that can take a while, so probably a recon mission." Naruto nodded, while Sakura sat back trying to think of how she could manipulate Tsunade to do that. She thought that if she got Tsunade drunk, she could influence her to plan that mission. She voiced her plan, and the two boys agreed.

The next day, Sakura looked at upcoming missions to find one that would probably be attacked. Once she did, Sakura planted a bottle of sake in Tsunade's office that she would find after she was done for the day. Sakura waited outside until she heard a couple loud gulps, followed by a hiccup. She waited a few minutes, then walked in. She explained that a recon mission needed to be completed, and that she and Naruto wanted to go. Tsunade, in the short state of happiness that would precede the sleep, and then the hangover, agreed to everything. As Sakura left the room, she crowed with elation, glad that she broke her uselessness streak.

She left the Hokage tower, heading to Naruto's apartment. When she got there, no one was home. She figured that Naruto was probably off training, so she ran off to the training grounds. At one of the more secluded spots, she found Naruto sparring Ar'Keno, and for the first time she realized why he was a missing ninja. His form was unique, he moved fluidly, and dodged everything. He had no wasted movements and used Naruto's own momentum to throw him off. Naruto ended with his face in the dirt multiple times, just because he threw a punch. She watched them spar for a while, and walked into the clearing at a break in the fight.

"Hey, guys," she called, "I got us on the recon mission." Naruto let out a tired cheer, while Ar'Keno nodded, satisfied. Naruto started to run over to Sakura, but his legs collapsed before he got two steps. Sakura rushed to him, while Ar'Keno rolled his eyes.

"He just overworked himself, toss him in the stream, he'll be fine." To prove this point, Sakura leaned down, grabbed Naruto by his collar, and tossed him into a nearby stream. As Naruto resurfaced, he fountained water, and got knocked back in as Ar'Keno, who had received the same treatment, barreled into him. They both came to the surface to see Sakura chuckling over them. Ar'Keno climbed out, while Naruto was trying to wrestle Sakura into the water.

"Naruto, give it a rest," he called, "we need details on the mission." Naruto stopped pushing and shoving against the immobile girl, and walked over to Ar'Keno, mimicking his move of removing his wet sweatshirt and undershirt. As the two demon containers lay back in the sun, trying to dry off, they listened to the details of their upcoming mission. Officially, the mission was only for Naruto and Sakura, but with Ar'Keno's help, they would be able to get it done much faster, and get on to their unofficial mission. They would leave in a week, and had an entire month to be done. Ar'Keno had been showing Naruto how to better access and channel Kyuubi's chakra. Naruto was taught how to control his regeneration, how to stop it, or how to speed it up. Sakura spent her time studying on common Sound techniques, and how to neutralize them. Ar'Keno himself was learning new jutsu's, common ones that every ninja knew: replacement, body flicker, clone; basic jutsu's. Because he left Cloud before he went to school, he only new a select few jutsu's.

The week passed quickly, not enough time to prepare for their plan. Naruto and Sakura met up at the gate, and headed off towards the Wave country. Once they were out of sight of the village, Ar'Keno swooped in, transformed into an owl. The three shot off towards the Wave country, eager to be done with this mission, and move onto their true objective. As they neared the border, they stopped, and got their papers in order. The Mist Village wasn't aware of a recon mission into their midst, and Konoha wanted to keep it that way. Naruto and Sakura each had fake passports, along with aliases and cover stories. Ar'Keno would sneak in that night, flying in his owl form, instead of taking a boat. He had no papers, he technically didn't exist, and he couldn't get a fake passport. They went over what they would do, then split up. Naruto and Sakura would pretend to not know each other. They had given Ar'Keno their forehead protectors so they wouldn't be recognized. They got in Wave successfully, and met up at the agreed coordinates. Then, they finished the recon mission as fast as they could. That took a few days, and started searching for the other mission, an escort of a merchant selling goods belonging to the noble. The boys questioned Sakura on the mission contents, about where the merchant was going, and they started for the market the man was going to. Once there, they followed the trail the merchant would haven taken to get there before they met the merchant, and his guards. This took another five days.

"Guys, I hear someone up ahead, ill check them out. Maybe we finally found them." Ar'Keno transformed, and soared off to investigate. A few minutes passed before the other two were startled by his return.

"We found them, it's a Konoha team guarding a merchant. Lets go up to them, and say Tsunade sent reinforcements." With that, Ar'Keno jumped off the branch he was perched on, and ran off.

"Wait, who is guarding him?" Sakura called after him. Ar'Keno yelled back, "How should I know, I've never met them before." Sakura and Naruto chased after him, asking more questions. They broke into the road, just as the team was coming down it. Three voices called out their greetings.

"Naruto, what are you doing here?"

"Hmm"

"N-Naruto-kun"

Naruto winced, "Why them?"

**Yea, I know it's short. I just needed to shut it off here. I'm on a roll right now, you want to expect chapters coming pretty fast. I just have nothing better to do. Please review!**

**-Prauge**


	7. The Other Team

**Spirit of the Night**

As the trio stopped in the road, Kiba, Shino and Hinata, along with their charge, came walking up to them. Naruto turned his head, and whispered furiously to Sakura, "Why didn't you say that Tsunade gave THESE guys the mission?" Sakura told him, "I didn't know who she gave it to, only the mission details." Naruto looked away, still somewhat annoyed.

"Oi, who are these guys, more of your stupid Konoha buddies?" The merchant spoke up, addressing Kiba. Kiba, obviously completely fed up with this guy, rounded on him.

"Yes, they are from Konoha, can't you tell from their forehead protectors?" Kiba shouted. The merchant wasn't impressed.

"Well, not from the gray-haired kid, he doesn't have one. What are they doing here?" Asked the merchant, pointing at the trio. Kiba opened his mouth to yell something, then paused.

"Who are you," he said, asking Ar'Keno, "and what ARE you guys doing here?" Sakura and Naruto looked at each other, eyes frantic.

"They are two ninjas I hired to escort me to my village" Ar'Keno said, adopting a lilting accent. "It is a small place, near the sea. I help run a ferry." Naruto and Sakura sighed in relief. Thank goodness for the rogue's quick thinking. Kiba nodded, accepting this answer, as did the merchant. Hinata stepped up to Ar'Keno and introduced herself.

"Hi, I'm H-Hyuuga Hinata. It's n-nice to meet y-you. These are my t-teammates, Aburame Shino, and Inuzuka Kiba. Th-this is our charge, Takahashi Shinjo." Ar'Keno gave her a kind smile.

"Nice to meet you to. My name is Kanaki Ikkano." Hinata smiled, and blushed. Kiba smiled at him, and Shino uttered a solemn 'it is nice to meet you'. Shinjo rolled his eyes, and humphed. Then Naruto noticed something.

"Kiba, where is Akamaru?"

"Hmm, oh he is scouting ahead. He should be back soon." Sakura shot Ar'Keno an alarmed look, and sidled over to him to chat.

"What's the matter?" Ar'Keno asked, dropping the accent.

"Can you hear Akamaru around? Inuzuka's depend heavily on their dogs for fighting, and if he is missing, they just eliminated Kiba as a strong fighting force." Ar'Keno nodded in understanding, then pricked his ears.

"Don't worry, Kiba's dog is about a mile down the road, and I can't hear anyone between us and him." Sakura sighed in relief. She knew Kiba was a good fighter, and it would stink if he was neutralized. The two turned back towards the rest, and Ar'Keno took a step towards Shinjo, and started up a friendly conversation. Sakura was chatting with Hinata, while Kiba and Naruto were having a large scale argument over something. Shino was watching with, well, he was just watching. When Akamaru came bounding down the road, Kiba ran out to greet him, and Ar'Keno shot a knowing glance at Sakura, who rolled her eyes. Shino asserted himself as captain of the mission, and ordered Kiba and Hinata to set up camp, slightly off the road. Ar'Keno went up to Shino and asked, "Do you mind if we tag along? I have a few trinkets to sell at a market nearby, and then we will be going the same direction back." Shino nodded his assent, then stalked off to find a campsite. Naruto walked up to Ar'Keno, and looked at him quizzically.

"Why are we sticking around? I thought we had to find the Sound guys." Sakura heard this and sighed at his stupidity.

"Idiot, the easiest way to find them is for them to find us. They will be looking for Shino's group, and when they attack, we pounce. This way we can hang around them without being noticed." Sakura explained to Naruto. He nodded in understanding, then posed a question.

"Where are these trinkets that you are going to sell?" Ar'Keno gave him a wicked smile, then replied, "I nicked some off of a few carts back at the marketplace in case we needed the money to buy something." Naruto and Sakura looked at him aghast.

"Why did you steal something, its wrong!" Naruto whispered. Sakura nodded at this statement.

"Hey, we might have needed the money, and I only stole stuff from people who could afford to have something stolen from them. I never steal from the needy." Ar'Keno defended himself vehemently. Naruto and Sakura were still mad, but didn't feel as bad. They were learning that Ar'Keno wasn't mean or cruel, despite his bad reputation.

"E-Everyone, dinner i-is ready." Hinata called out to them. Naruto rushed over and started eating. Everyone else came slower. Naruto was done faster than anyone.

"Hinata that was delicious, I didn't know that you could cook." Hinata's face turned bright red.

"Th-Thank you N-Naruto-kun." He gave her a smile. They all had dinner, which was quite exceptional considering the conditions, then Shino divided out the watch. He knew about the Sound ambushes, and even though he didn't think they would attack them, he wanted to be on guard. Kiba had the first watch, then Hinata, then Sakura, then Naruto. Everyone except Kiba and Akamaru crawled into their sleeping bags, and went to sleep. Pretty soon, snores echoed around the campsite, mainly from Naruto. Kiba entertained himself by poking at the fire, and petting his snoozing dog. After about two hours, he woke Hinata, who complacently got up, and sat down by the fire. Between staring at the fire, and staring at Naruto, she found herself dozing off. Next thing she knew, she was looking at two glowing yellow eyes. She started, surprised and angry at herself for falling asleep. She started to stammer out an apology, then was interrupted.

"Where I live, if the watchman is caught asleep, he isn't allowed to wake up. The person who finds him slits his throat right there." Her eyes widened at the thought, then tried to start talking again, but Ar'Keno interrupted her again.

"Its alright, you weren't asleep for long. I was watching you. Why don't you go back to bed. Don't worry about me, I normally stay up all night anyway. Just don't tell Shino." Hinata nodded, then sidled off to her sleeping bag. Ar'Keno took the rest of her watch, as well as Sakura's, and half of Naruto's. He leaned over, and shook Naruto's shoulder.

"Mm, five more minutes," Naruto mumbled. Ar'Keno rolled his eyes, then told him, "Get up, it's time for your watch." Naruto sat up showing all the enthusiasm as a sloth just being woken from a three year slumber.

"Have you been up all night?" Ar'Keno nodded.

"Yea, didn't I tell you that I'm nocturnal? I will only sleep at night if I am completely konked out." Naruto slowly emerged from his oh-so-warm sleeping bag into the cold night. He stood up, and asked Ar'Keno, "Did you hear anyone?" The rogue shook his head.

"No, just animals and the wind. No humans."

"How can you tell if it's a human?" Naruto asked.

"Two ways, the smaller the being, normally the faster, and the lighter, its heartbeat. Animals, unless it's a bear or something else that size, have a faster heart rate. Also, I didn't hear any fast approaching footsteps." Naruto nodded in understanding. Ar'Keno continued, "Also, if someone was here, don't you think I would have woken you guys up? I'm going to get as much sleep as possible now that the sun is up until everyone wakes up." Naruto glanced over to the eastern horizon, and indeed, there was the sun poking up. He nodded, and Ar'Keno crawled into his sleeping bag.

About an hour passed before Shino got up, and started gathering food for breakfast. Another half hour went by before Sakura and Hinata woke, and started helping Shino forage. Over the next hour, everyone got up, excluding Akamaru and Shinjo, because the dog seemed sick, and Shinjo was complaining that he hadn't slept well, so he needed more rest. Sakura checked Akamaru, said he only had a small infection, he would get better. She seemed worried about him, considering the looming Sound attack. She and Naruto were constantly asking their super ear if anyone was coming. He was sure no one was there; he was telling them he would tell them if someone was coming.

They went to the marketplace and sold some of the trinkets. Shinjo hadn't sold his special item, a gold Buddha statue, so they went toward another market. Eventually, Sakura and Naruto relaxed. They weren't constantly looking over their shoulder's, searching for a Sound attack force. Akamaru still hadn't gotten better. One day, Ar'Keno approached his teammates.

"We need to split off of this team. The Sound force has been here, the entire time, waiting for us to leave. Also, I'm running out of excuses for Shino to keep sticking around. We will stick somewhat close around them, but far enough away so the Sound don't know we are still here." Naruto and Sakura nodded, and went to pack up their stuff as Ar'Keno went to explain everything to Shino. Twenty minutes later, they were jumping through the trees away from the other team. Naruto was confused about something.

"Hey, why aren't we attacking them now?" Sakura added her voice, "yea, we can attack them without having to explain your skills to Shino's team." Ar'Keno glanced back, and replied, "We need them to report it so Tsunade can figure out that I didn't cause the leak. If you have been here and I haven't, then she _should_ figure out that I can't be the leak."

"That makes sense." Sakura said, and Naruto agreed.

"Yea, I didn't think of that. We definitely want you cleared." They sped off, going around where the Sound team was supposed to be, staying just out of their way.

That night, when they stopped to set up their camp, they sat and discussed what their plan was.

"So, we are to wait until the Sound attacks Shinjo, then provide backup if they are failing, correct?" Sakura asked. Naruto answered.

"Right, but only us, not Ar'Keno, because he cant show his ninja skills unless necessary." Ar'Keno nodded his assent.

"You guys will say they already killed me, and they headed off in their direction, and we followed. If you really need help, I will come in."

"Should we try to capture one or two for interrogation?" Sakura asked.

"Definitely, we must find out who the leak is, and kill him." Naruto answered. They went to sleep, with Ar'Keno watching the camp the whole night. They would let him sleep for a few hours, and then run straight past the Sound camp, in Shino direction, luring them.

As Ar'Keno woke up, he noticed that Naruto and Sakura were already gone. He listened, and heard eleven heartbeats, five chasing two toward four. He figured that the Sound team had probably found them, and Naruto and Sakura had taken the initiative. He cleaned up camp as fast as possible, buried the supplies, and took off after the other ninja. By the time he caught up, (they were really far ahead), all eleven ninja were fighting in a clearing. As he took in the scene, he saw Shinjo heavily injured, being guarded by Hinata. Naruto and Sakura were engaging the leader. Shino had his hands full fighting three at once. Kiba was completely unconscious, curled around Akamaru. He saw Naruto and Sakura faring badly, and Shino being pummeled. He made a split decision, and leapt into the clearing, taking out the ninja attacking Hinata and two ninjas attacking Shino on the way down. As he landed, Shino and Hinata's eyes widened, for they had heard he was dead. Hinata quickly saw his chakra passages, remembered the recent events in Konoha, and easily connected the dots.

"The rogue?"

**Hey guys, how ya doing? Ooh, Hinata found out, what are they gonna do! Thanks for reading, do you like it? please review, I need to know what I am doing wrong, what I could be doing better. Thanks to Nebula1701 for adding Spirit of the Night to your Story Alert, and thanks for xzavx for reviewing**

**-Prauge**


	8. Found Him!

**Spirit of the Night**

"The rogue?" Hinata stammered.

Ar'Keno nodded to her, then waved Naruto and Sakura away from the Sound leader, and attacked him. As Sakura woke Kiba and treated everyone's wounds, she explained the entire situation.

"Yea, that's the rogue, but he isn't the one who leaked the information. He was set up by some Sound guys. We found him and asked him to help us. We figured out this mission would be attacked, and came so that these guys can be stopped. We are going to trace these men back to their informant, so no more missions will be attacked." Hinata was completely overwhelmed, she had really liked Ar'Keno. He was trudging over after dealing with the leader. As he plopped down by Sakura, she started healing him, the ninja had gotten some good hits in.

"Yes, I apologize for deceiving you; I did not mean any harm. We were going to stop these people as soon as they attacked you, we did not mean for you to see me." Hinata nodded, and Shino stood up.

"I do not wish to do this." Naruto looked at him quizzically, while Ar'Keno nodded in understanding. "I must place you under arrest and take you immediately back to Konoha." Hinata and Kiba started to protest, saying that Ar'Keno had saved them, to show some gratitude. "I must, he needs to be taken back for the Hokage to judge." Soon everyone, except Ar'Keno himself, was protesting this.

"I will go."

This sentence quieted everyone immediately.

"What? What do you mean?" Naruto asked.

"I do not want to go to Konoha, I could be going to my death. There is some business that I have not finished. Even though I could easily defeat all of you in your current injured state, I will go willingly to Konoha, on one condition. I want to track down the real leak, and kill him." Shino was about to protest, but was stopped by Hinata.

"Sh-Shino, we owe him our lives, w-we should d-do this for him. H-He said he would g-go afterwards." Shino acquiesced, and Ar'Keno nodded his thanks. They walked over to the leader, and Ar'Keno leaned down by his head. He said quietly, "Tell me who gave you the mission information." The man clamped his mouth shut, a defiant look in his eyes. Kiba walked up.

"Listen, you better tell me who your informant is, or I will rip you apart for hurting my dog." The man laughed, mockingly.

"You could never hurt me more than him, he is a demon, a real demon! I will tell you, just for the satisfaction of knowing you will be ripped to bits. His name is Shinato Hakaray. He lives in the Fire Country, about twenty miles south of your pathetic village, in a large cave. I hope you all live enough to see his true form, it will be the worst sight you have ever seen." The man shuddered, and then his eyes glazed over. Sakura looked worried, but Hinata was downright sick, she had never seen a man die before. She literally leaned over and gave up her breakfast.

"Ok, lets go hunt him down, Akamaru will have his revenge!" Kiba shouted.

"Not now," Shino murmured, "we are tired. We just fought a battle that we almost lost. We will take a few days off, then find the leak." Kiba saw the wisdom in Shino's words, and started cleaning the area off.

"Hey, what do we do with the bodies?" he shouted.

"Bury them, obviously. Even if they were Sound, they were still people, they deserve a resting place." Ar'Keno told him. They set to work digging graves, and soon they had five. They put the bodies in, filled the grave, and carved a small wood plaque as a grave marker. By then, the rest of the camp had been put away.

As they all ran away from the place, excluding Shinjo, he was being carried by Naruto, Ar'Keno couldn't help but worry about the dying ninja's statement, "he's a demon, a real demon." He shook his head, clearing his head of such thoughts, he didn't need them. He only needed to know that the spy was strong, and that he couldn't get hurt badly, not again. Each time he gave up control to the animal in him, it got harder to take the control back. He shivered, he could only imagine what would happen if he couldn't take his body back. The last time he lost it, there hadn't been many people nearby, and he wasn't hurt. It hadn't been as hard to fight the animal back. If he got really hurt (the worse the injuries, the harder it got to come back) he might hurt those around him.

Ar'Keno shivered at that thought. He would never let that happen. Shaking his head once more, he focused on listening to the forest around them. At first the only thing he heard, besides Kiba and Shinjo arguing, was the whoosh of their feet as they ran. He concentrated past that, and sent his attention beyond the immediate area. He heard so much, sometimes it gave him a headache. He could hear bugs, scraping across the ground, miles away. He heard an owl, flapping its silent wings. He heard the heartbeat of a hummingbird, whirring in time with its wings. He heard a bear's teeth crunch on the bones of its latest meal. He heard the crashing of a waterfall, five miles away. He heard too much sometimes.

When in a village, he always heard whispered secrets. He always knew whenever someone had said anything, whether inside or out, shout or whisper. He pitied them, for unknowingly unveiling their secrets. That was why he didn't like villages. They were too noisy, even for a human ear. Always bustling, someone yelling in a marketplace. Some kid wailing for his mother. To much noise. He preferred the forest, that was why he stayed there, instead of in Konoha. It was the perfect place. He could always hear a river in the background, it was so soothing. He always knew when someone was coming, because there weren't any people there normally, just him. He hated the spy who forced him to leave that place.

"Ar'Keno!"

Ar'Keno started; he had slipped into a daze.

"What?" he asked.

"Are you feeling ok, you kinda just zoned out, we had to call your name three times." Sakura asked. Ar'Keno looked at her for a moment, then laughed. Not just a little chuckle, but a boisterous laugh. Sakura looked at him like he was crazy.

"Sakura, I'm better than ok, I'm great. We are gonna catch the guy who took away my home." He laughed again, and shot off. Looking back, he shouted, "I'll catch up to you guys later." And then he disappeared.

That night, when everyone had made camp, if you can call it that, a circle of sleeping bags and a fire, Ar'Keno literally dropped in. He landed right in the middle of the campsite, startling everyone.

"Hey guys, how ya doing?"

"You idiot, you almost gave me a heart attack, can't you just walk in? Are all ninja this crazy?" Shinjo screeched.

"I don't know about the other ninjas, but most of the ones I've met are pretty crazy." Ar'Keno replied.

"Hey. If you want to talk crazy, our sensei is number one." Naruto piped in. Sakura agreed.

"Yea, Kakashi is definitely mental. He shows up hours late for everything, then lies about why." Kiba shook his head.

"What about Gai? He beats Kakashi any day on craziness." Everyone there had to agree with that. Shinjo wanted to know why Gai was so crazy, and they showed him a picture.

"Holy crap, I could clothe a third world country with those eyebrows!" That night, Shinjo had nightmares.

Shino divided up the watch again, this time it was Naruto, then Sakura, then Hinata, then himself. Ar'Keno stayed up the whole night anyway. Apparently, Shino didn't trust him enough to have him watch. Ar'Keno spent the night on top of a tree picking out constellations, and making up a few of his own.

In the morning, they set off to Shinjo's home. They didn't want him to impede on their fight, he might get hurt, or get one of them hurt. About midday, they got there, and left within the hour. Kiba crowed with elation, he hated the merchant. Without the extra weight, they all shot off towards home. By the end of that day, they made it halfway to the Fire country. The next day they did the same thing, shot off towards Konoha. Once they got into the Fire Country, they aimed for just south of the village. They settled down early that day to discuss strategy.

"Here is the plan. We will first find the cave, then scout around it. If there is no one there, depending on the time, we will go in, quietly. Kiba and Ar'Keno will determine how many people are there. We will pick any extra men off, using Hinata. Hers is the quickest and quietest technique. Then we storm the informant." Shino laid out his plan, "does everyone know their parts?" After everyone nodded, they crawled into their sleeping bags, and tried to get some sleep. Most of them failed. Hinata was to nervous, as was Sakura, Kiba was to excited, and Ar'Keno was nocturnal. Shino and Naruto slept fine. Ar'Keno watched the whole night, then woke Naruto at dawn, so he could get some sleep.

The next day, they scouted for the cave. It took them a good part of the day, but luckily there were no other ninja's around. As they made camp again, this time with no fire, they went over the plan again. By now, everyone knew it backwards and forwards. Ar'Keno stayed up again, and once more woke Naruto to get some sleep. When everyone had woken, and packed up, they buried all unnecessary things. Kiba and Ar'Keno both reported there were three other ninja in the cave. They could tell that the one in the back of the cave was their target, because he smelled like he had recently seen Orochimaru. They crept in, and Hinata took out the two other guards. They snuck through the long and winding cave, and came into a large cavern, decorated with stalactites, stalagmites, and columns. In the center of the room was a large chair, almost a throne. On it, was a man, seemingly asleep. He was tall, taller than each of them. His hair was black, and ran down to his shoulders. He had a jounin vest on, and a Konoha forehead protector was discarded to the side of the throne. He heaved a sigh, and stood up, eyes still closed. He walked towards them, saying, "Someone actually found me, congratulations. How did you know where I was?"

Naruto answered, "A Sound ninja told us." The man sighed again, he seemed dejected.

"I knew I shouldn't have told them where I lived. They always tell people, and then I have to punish them." And then he opened his eyes. All the ninja gasped. One of his eyes was normal, dark brown, a little squinty. The other was red, with three tomoes whirling around the pupil.

"Where the hell did you get that eye?!" Naruto yelled. Their target smirked.

"I stole it."

**Ooh, big fight scene next! What are they gonna do against that eye? What's gonna happen? Thanks to Nebula1701 for reviewing. And im SO SORRY for the long wait, I kinda forgot to post this one before moving onto the next chapter, plus school has been so bad I could barf. It sucks. But no worries, almost done with school, so ON WITH THE STORY!**

**-Prauge**


	9. You're Going Down!

**Spirit of the Night**

"I stole it, off of an Uchiha body from the massacre."

Naruto paled in anger, he had great respect for the dead. This man had defiled corpses, a grave robber, a heinous crime. He had to focus to keep the Kyuubi's chakra from invading his system. He wasn't the only one mad; Ar'Keno was trembling in anger beside him. Naruto, extremely pissed, jumped at their target, Shinato, fist aiming for his face. Instead, he got kicked across the room, into a column of rock.

"Boy, only a fool rushes into a fight against a Sharingan wielder. Only a fool with a death wish." Shinato laughed. Naruto growled, jumping again, trying to land a hit. Once again, he was knocked back, although this time, Sakura caught him. Hinata stepped up, angry at Shinato for hurting her love. The two traded blows. Hinata was struggling against her opponent. She was pushing her speed to the limit, trying to get over his advantage of seeing her moves.

The two were amazing to watch, standing in one spot, arms blurring from the speed. Eventually, Shinato got a hit in, then two, then five. Hinata coughed up blood from the strikes, and fell to her knees. Shinato was about to deliver a devastating kick, but he was bowled over by a whirling gray tornado.

"Our turn!" Kiba howled, with Akamaru jumping on his back

"Juujin bunshin!" Akamaru transformed, and the two Kibas grew fangs and claws.

"Gatsuuga!" the two tornado's shot towards Shinato, who sidestepped neatly, but not before being enveloped in a cloud of smoke, throw by one of the tornados. Suddenly, he was being assailed from all sides.

"Your Sharingan is no good if you cant see! We can keep this up all day if we have to." Kiba shouted, throwing a punch. Shinato cursed, realizing the truth in those words. At the next hit, he grabbed the offending limb, and stuck an explosive tag on it. A large boom quickly commenced, followed by a yelp. When the dust cleared, Kiba was revealed kneeling over his dog, eyes clouded in anger.

"I'm gonna kill you!" he screamed, "Tsuuga!" Shinato smirked, "I know that trick already, Tsuuga!" He said, throwing himself into a spin, creating his own tornado. The two clashed, and both were thrown back. Kiba started another Tsuuga, while Shinato pulled out kunai, and began one of his own. This time, during the clash, the bladed tornado shredded Kiba. Shinato stopped spinning, and started towards the prone ninja. He was forced to stop when he felt his chakra being drained. He whirled around, facing Shino, and forcing the bugs off at the same time. He sneered.

"Aburame, I'm gonna crush you just like your precious bugs." Shino soon had his hands full defending himself from kunai slashes. The man was _fast_. Shino could barely dodge in time. His clothes got ripped from kunai, that's how close it got. Shino jumped across the room, panting hard. Shinato gave him no time to rest. This time, performing hand signs, he leapt after Shino, breathing out. Shino stood still, waiting for the jutsu to work. Shinato, almost reading his thoughts leaned down, picked up a rock and said, "It is already working, I covered that area with flammable gas." And he threw the rock. There was a spark, and Shino was enveloped in flame.

Sakura scuttled over to him, already healing him. Shinato walked over, and brutally kicked her across the face. She flew across the cavern, flipped, and landed against a column. Springing off, she leapt at their target. Shinato sidestepped, but Sakura's hand snaked across his chest, grabbing him, and bodily heaving him up. She jumped into the air, and started pounding him with all her strength. As they landed, Sakura was breathing heavily, with Shinato lying on the ground. Slowly, he got up.

"Ouch, that actually got me. Although, you should work on your strength, the fall hurt more than the punches." Sakura got pissed at that, and punched him hard in the spine, felling him. He lay, twitching on the ground. Suddenly, his leg started shaking.

"Arrgh, what was that? I cant get up. Was it a nerve attack? Good to know, it will help me kill the others." Shinato sent a wave of chakra through his body, fixing his nervous system, then kick-upped onto his feet. He launched a barrage of attacks at his opponent, and when he was done, Sakura couldn't articulate a sentence, let alone fight. He turned toward Naruto and Ar'Keno, sneering.

"All these people are weak, can you entertain me more?" Naruto gave up his battle with the fox, and let his chakra flood through his body, turning his eyes red, and giving him claws.

"Awoooooo, I'm gonna kill you!!" Naruto screamed, launching himself and Shinato. He flew straight into the man. Those two traded blows, leaping and jumping all around the arena. Shinato was using his advantage to the fullest, but Naruto's speed was overwhelming. They seemed evenly matched, then Shinato pulled away, performed some handsigns, and breathed out again. This time, instead of gas, a large ball of flame erupted. Naruto screamed again, forcing it back. Shinato did another jutsu, this time and earth one. He caught hold of Naruto's feet, and hands, immobilizing him. Naruto struggled, snarling and growling, ineffectively. Shinato was panting from the effort of holding him. His eyes were wide, and flying around, looking for a more effective way to stop the crazed ninja. His eyes landed on Sakura, still trying to undo the effects of his nerve attacks. He leapt at her, holding the jutsu, and tried to grab the girl. He was stopped by Ar'Keno, standing protectively over her, head bowed, body shaking.

"Move boy if you're too scared to fight." Ar'Keno got pissed at that, and lifted his head. His eyes were still yellow, but they were flickering to orange. He had the animal under control, if barely. Soon, the flickers stopped. Naruto was calmed down by now, slumped over from chakra exhaustion, but still conscious. Shinato smirked at the boy in front of him.

"If you don't move, I will kill all of your friends, brutally, right in front of you, then I will kill you." With that, Ar'Keno moved. Straight at Shinato. He leapt straight at the man, hands blazing through signs, and Shinato was trapped in a genjutsu. He couldn't see, couldn't move, couldn't feel. He could just process information. He knew he was in a genjutsu, and if he had lips, he would have smirked. Suddenly, the black splintered, replaced with the real world.

"Idiot boy, all genjutsus are useless against this eye." Then he was assailed again, again with complete blackness, but in this, he could feel, and move. He felt himself being hit, then heard a whisper.

"Kiba was right, if you can't see me, your eye is ineffective." He lashed toward the voice, but only hit rock. At the same time, he was hit three more times. He screamed in frustration. He tried to blow the darkness away, but couldn't. So he stopped. He focused inside him, and drew out his latent power. The power rampaged through his body, changing him. Both of his eyes changed color, both were now dark green, and became slanted. His hair turned midnight blue, and grew to mid-back. His face grew more animalistic. His teeth elongated, as did his fingers. Behind him, lashed a tail. He looked a lot like Kiba in his beast form, but worse. He had an air of control about him.

The black disappeared again. The new Shinato face Ar'Keno with a smug look on his face.

"This form, you w ill never defeat, not with that blackness, not with anything. This is the demon of beasts." Ar'Keno stared at him, not looking particularly surprised at the transformation.

"Didn't you get rid of our greatest advantage in that transformation, your Sharingan?" Shinato laughed.

"I only need that when I don't have an extreme speed advantage. With this form, genjutsu is ineffective, and I can read your moves. I have no need for it." This worried Ar'Keno, one of his best jutsu's was a genjutsu. Suddenly, he was grimacing in pain; Shinato had stabbed him in the shoulder.

"Wow, nice reaction," he said, "I was aiming for the heart."

"Don't let anything get in the way of our concentration, if you do, you'll die." Ar'Keno looked annoyed at himself, he knew this was true. He used some of his demon chakra to heal the wound, then leapt at Shinato with new speed. Shinato looked surprised with this new burst, but not worried. He still was faster. Then he got worried. Ar'Keno kept getting steadily faster, till he was almost on par with his opponent. They traded blows, and Shinato gained the upper hand. He was both faster, and had a longer reach. Most of the time, when Ar'Keno would try to take advantage of an opening, he would get pounded. Finally, he got a good hit in, and Shinato went flying.

Ar'Keno was not in good shape. He had a broken rib, multiple cuts, and had been hit way too many times. To top it off, his eyes were flickering again. Across the room, Shinato was picking his way out of what used to be a stalagmite.

"Brat, that actually hurt. Where are you getting this power from?" Shinato sighed, "It doesn't matter, that was a lucky shot, and I can still go faster." Ar'Keno's eyes widened, and he tried to dodge Shinato's lunge, aimed for his heart. It missed, barely. The kunai still went straight through him, and Ar'Keno coughed up blood. Naruto, watching the battle from within his constraints, was shocked. He started his struggles anew. Shinato wrenched the kunai away, and looked down on Ar'Keno. He was slightly puzzled as to why Ar'Keno was, instead of trying to stop the blood flow, clutching his head. Naruto knew what was happening, and doubled his struggles, but to no avail. When Ar'Keno looked up, his eyes were orange.

"What the hell is this?" Shinato was terrified. He could feel the raw energy pouring off of his opponent, and he knew instantaneously that he would die. And so he did. Ar'Keno shot around so fast Shinato's eyes couldn't process it before he was grabbed and thrown straight up. Suddenly, right above him was the thing wearing Ar'Keno's body. It kicked him to the side, and Shinato was speared on a stalagmite. As Ar'Keno's body landed, it laughed, a cruel laugh, sounding wrong coming from Ar'Keno's mouth.

"Finally, after so many years, that kid pushed it too far! He can't take his body back now, its mine, all mine!" It laughed again. Inside the mind, Ar'Keno's consciousness flailed against its cage, trying to force the animal down.

"Ar'Keno, what are you saying?" Naruto, now free from his restraints, yelled.

"Hah, kid the Ar'Keno you knew is gone. Each time he gets hurt, I come and save him, then, he tries to force me back. Well now he can't. This body is all mine." Naruto's eyes widened. He yelled at the demon, "Give Ar'Keno his body back you monster!" The demon smirked.

"As if, you brat. I just got free rein. I have spent thirteen years in this body caged. Now, I'm gonna use this to its full extent, and when I've had my fun, maybe I'll give it back."

"Wait, I thought your mind and Ar'Keno's toddler mind melded, one thing."

"Yes that is correct. But the more animalistic side was locked away." Naruto figured out that reasoning with the animal wasn't going to work, so he tried another tack.

"Ar'Keno, fight him, you are stronger and smarter, force him back! I know you can do it. You are the one who saved me, and listened to my ramblings. You figured out how to hunt the spy down, you saved us against the Sound, you saved us against Shinato. You are strong. Beat him back!" The beast laughed, then convulsed. It fell to the ground, shaking, its eyes were melting from orange to yellow and back. When the spasms stopped, Naruto couldn't tell who had control, Ar'Keno, or the beast. He called tentatively, "Ar'Keno?" The body stood up, and opened its eyes.

"Who else?" Naruto stared into those comforting yellow eyes, now drained with exhaustion. He breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank God." Naruto picked his way free of the rubble, and went to check on Sakura. She had somewhat recovered from the nerve attacks. She could use her mouth, and the upper half of her body.

"What the hell are you? What was that energy?" She yelled at Ar'Keno. He sighed. As he stumbled over, she scrambled to get away. Naruto held her, and explained the whole story, that Ar'Keno melded with a demon when he was young, was attacked, and killed his clan. Ar'Keno explained the inner struggle of control with the beast. They asked her not to tell anyone about this.

"Are you human?" Ar'Keno shook his head.

"Not completely. Because of the fusion, I'm part owl demon." He reached toward her to try to flush the chakra from the nerve attacks away, and paused.

"Do you trust me?" Sakura eyed him warily.

"I do. I shouldn't, but I do." Ar'Keno fixed her nervous system, then she went around healing the others. True to her word, she kept the demon thing a secret. They carried the others outside, and Sakura gave them medical aid. Kiba and Hinata were going to be pretty easy to fix, simple cuts and broken bones, but Shino needed more. He was really burnt to a crisp. They needed to get him to a hospital, as soon as possible, but he wasn't up to travel. Sakura couldn't patch him up enough to be moved more than just outside of the cave. If he didn't get more medical attention soon, he would die of his burns.

**Ok, to make up for the insanely long wait last time, I worked on this as much as I could. Because it was already partially done, I finished in record time. But what are they gonna do about Shino?! Please R&R. **

**-Prauge**


	10. What to do with the Rogue

They were racking their brains to get hospital staff and medical equipment. Hinata and Kiba were to beat up to run twenty miles straight to Konoha, Sakura was needed here to keep Shino alive, Ar'Keno couldn't step foot into the village without getting attacked, and Naruto wouldn't know what to get. They were getting desperate enough to suggest that Ar'Keno get chased by ANBU to them. That was shot down because they wouldn't bring medical ninja's. Ar'Keno asked Sakura what equipment she needed.

"I need at least three surgeons, an h-vac kit, severe burn treatment, and movement specialists." Ar'Keno's brain whizzed, then he called Naruto.

"Naruto lets go!" Naruto looked at him quizzically.

"I'll transform into something and tell you what to bring."

"Ah, let's go!" The two sprinted off into the forest. Sakura was bent over Shino, working on keeping his heart beating, shaking the bugs off. Naruto and Ar'Keno reached the village in two minutes, sprinting as fast as possible. Ar'Keno transformed into a small spider, and perched on Naruto's ear. Naruto ran to the emergency room, burst through the doors, shouting out what Ar'Keno told him. Everyone stared at him, kinda bewildered. Naruto almost screamed in exasperation.

"We have a severely injured ninja twenty miles south of here. He has third degree burns all over his body. Our medic needs three surgeons, an h-vac kit, severe burn treatment, and movement specialists. Her name is Haruno Sakura." At Sakura's name, everyone jumped into work. Within two minutes, they were out of the village, and racing through the forest to Shino.

As Naruto and the surgeons leapt into the area, Sakura started talking to them fast using way too many medical terms to follow. Soon, they had Shino stabilized, and moved to the hospital. Sakura was practically falling over with exhaustion, too tired to even think about healing Kiba and Hinata. Ar'Keno was still a spider on Naruto's ear, not revealing himself to the medic ninjas. They all went back to Konoha, and Kiba and Hinata were put into the hospital. Sakura and Naruto weren't required to report on their mission until Shino and the others were able to as well. It took about a week under intensive care that Shino was able to get around in a wheelchair, and another for crutches. After another three weeks, he could walk, although he couldn't fight, he could function like a normal human being. Then, all five of them went in to give the report.

"Tell me exactly what happened." Tsunade ordered them. Shino started his monologue. Tsunade found her mouth to be dropping further and further to the floor.

"Hinata, Kiba and I traveled to the Wave country to pick up a merchant, who needed protection. We found him, and on the way to a market to sell an item of his, we ran into Sakura, Naruto, and another young man. We traveled together for a week, and then they left. The next day, we were ambushed by Sound forces, and were faring badly. We would have died if Naruto and Sakura hadn't shown up. They claimed that the young man traveling with them was dead, killed by the ninjas. This young man soon jumped in, and neutralized almost the entire Sound force. He turned out to be the escaped missing ninja, accused of leaking information to the Sound of our missions. We found the location of the true leak, and neutralized him. That was when my team and I were severely hurt. Apparently, the rogue ninja killed the leak. His body was brought from the cave in which we battled." By now, Tsunade's jaw had pushed through the floor, down three stories, and was currently banging into bedrock.

"Why did you not take the rogue into custody and immediately bring him back here?"

"We already had definitive information that the leak came from elsewhere, and I did bring him back, just not right away."

"What, where? How is he here without me knowing about it? Why didn't he run away when you were incapacitated?"

"Once I told him we were going after the leak first, he willingly gave himself up, and would come back to Konoha. He has been here, with Naruto, ever since we came back."

"Naruto, where is he?" Tsunade's eyes bugged as Naruto held out a spider.

"Stop playing with me!" Naruto walked back through the three walls to get back to the office.

"Hag, he is a ninja, he can transform." And so he did. A large poof ensued, and Ar'Keno stood in Tsunade's office, five ANBU standing around him, rushing in after the transformation. Tsunade looked hard at him.

"I want to hear your past, which village you came from, why you were living in the forest, why you attacked my ANBU, and why you are here now." Ar'Keno nodded, and started his tale.

"I am originally from Kumogakure, and I was kicked out by my family when I melded with the spirit of the night. I ran to the forest, and have lived in the forest since you left. I attacked your ANBU in the forest because they tried to force me away from my home. I attacked them in the jail because they were torturing Naruto to get to me. I am here now because, as Shino told you, I came willingly once I heard they were taking care of the real leak first. I am here, and I will bear your punishment." Tsunade took all this in, and sent them away. She thought on what to do. She didn't want to kill him, because he never actively hurt Konoha, only defended himself and Naruto. She couldn't leave him be, because he was a missing ninja, and he had committed crimes against the village. She was also concerned with the demon side of him. If she physically hurt him, that animal could come out. She understood its destructive potential, much like Naruto and his Demon Cloak.

Outside in the hallway, a rather awkward silence had fallen. Ar'Keno was surrounded by seven ANBU, all pointing their weapons at him. Naruto and Sakura were across the hall. They were waiting anxiously for the verdict, scared of the possibilities. The ANBU were waiting, almost gleeful, for the decision, they hated this kid. He had taken out to many of them, and he was only thirteen. Ar'Keno was content; he didn't really care if he died. He had nowhere to go, the only friends he had were Naruto and Sakura. They had other friends; they would get over his death. They would have to. He had no doubt of Tsunade's decision. He was dragged out of his reverie when he was called back into the office. He faced Tsunade with unwavering calm.

Outside, Naruto and Sakura were waiting, extremely anxious. Sakura had no more fingernails, she had chewed them all off. They could hear talking in the office, but couldn't make out the words. The door opened, and Ar'Keno walked out alone.

"She basically let me off." Naruto and Sakura's eyes bugged, and Sakura couldn't help but hug Naruto. He looked surprised, and then hugged her back. Sakura broke the embrace, and turned to Ar'Keno.

"What do you mean 'basically'?"

"I have tons of community service, and I am under house arrest for six months. There will be guards around my home, and I will have escorts whenever I leave." Naruto and Sakura were amazed at the lightness of the sentence. They hugged again, and asked if they could visit him.

"Of course, but the ANBU will be listening. At least for six months."

_Six months later_

Over the past six months, Ar'Keno finished his community service without incidence. Whenever he fixed something, he did it perfectly. He always did extra. Tsunade was impressed, and ended his house arrest a month early. Naruto and Sakura announced their blooming relationship. They were going strong, although Sakura had thought Naruto was cheating on her with Hinata at one point. Naruto had always arrived at Ar'Keno's house with some bandage or cast.

Ar'Keno had been called into the Hokage's office. It wasn't the first time he was called in, but Naruto and Sakura were almost as worried as the first time. As always, they waited outside in the hallway. They were in the middle of a make-out session when Ar'Keno walked out.

"Ok, no more kissing within my hearing range when I'm trying to listen. I could barely hear Tsunade talk." Naruto smiled sheepishly, and Sakura noticed a package in Ar'Keno's hands.

"What's that?" He opened it up. In his hands, he held a Konoha forehead protector.

"WHAT THE HELL?!!" Both Naruto and Sakura together threatened to burst Ar'Keno's eardrums.

"Yea, I wasn't expecting it either. She says I proved myself, and that this was one of the best ways to keep an eye on me. Also, she wants me to keep an eye on you guys; I'm joining your team." The two others were elated; they had never thought that this would be the outcome.

"Alright, first thing, ramen, my treat." Naruto dragged Sakura and Ar'Keno to Ichiraku. Tseuche smiled at them. He had gotten to know Ar'Keno over the past six months. Ar'Keno always gave him a good tip, even though he had almost no money.

"Yo, Ar'Keno, how ya doing? When are you off parole?" Ar'Keno smiled at him.

"I got off today." Tseuche smile increased exponentially.

"Really, that's great! Ramen is on the house tonight." Naruto crowed; he would keep eating until his stomach exploded.

"So, what are you going to do now, live in your tree?" Tseuche asked Ar'Keno.

"I'll probably still live in my tree, but Tsunade did give me a job." Ar'Keno showed him his forehead protector.

"That's great, you are a Konoha ninja! Is she putting you on a team? What rank? Are you going to take the chunnin exams?" Naruto answered for him.

"He is on our team, with me and Sakura." Ar'Keno continued.

"I start out as genin, and I might take the exams, if these two will." Naruto and Sakura gave him a 'no duh' look. Ar'Keno grinned at them, and finished eating. He gave Tseuche a tip, and jumped off toward the monument. Sakura and Naruto smiled, and continued their own ramen. When they finished, they walked off to the Mount Rushmore lookalike. As they walked up to the top, their eyes scanned the stone faces, looking for any abnormalities. They searched for about five minutes before Sakura noticed a small bump on the second Hokage's eyebrow. She nudged Naruto.

"There he is." The bump shimmered, and the illusion dispersed to show Ar'Keno sitting on the eyebrow, grinning at them, his forehead protector around his neck. In a moment, he was standing by their side.

"Hey, took you a while to find me that time." It had become a game of his in the last month, hide on the monument. He didn't know the monument that well, so he normally made a mistake in his illusion. Lately he had been getting better, they really had to search to find him, not just glance at the stone faces.

"Yea, that was pretty good. Your skills are getting better." Naruto grinned.

"I like the forehead protector, it suits you." Ar'Keno glanced down and grimaced.

"It feels weird, like a weight around my neck." Naruto cracked up.

"You'll get used to it eventually," Sakura reassured him, "you won't be able to feel it soon." Ar'Keno scratched at his neck, rotated his shoulders, and shook his head.

"I hope so, it is so annoying. Hey Naruto, you wanna get some training in? I need a workout if we are going to the next chunnin exams."

"Hell yeah!" Sakura laughed, and called, "Be back by ten." Naruto gave her a peck on the cheek, and jumped on Ar'Keno's transformed back. They winged off towards training grounds. Sakura walked down the mountain to try to convince Tsunade to give her some training. It should be easy, she preferred anything to paperwork.

**Tada! Done. I know that that ending was predictable, but I thought I fit. So, whaddya think, should I make a sequel? Should it be of the Chuunin exams, or something else? Let me know!**

**-Prauge**


End file.
